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Speed Pocket
The Speed Pocket (スピード・ポケット) is a Japanese folding camera taking 4×6.5 pictures on 127 film made by Kuribayashi. The attribution to Kuribayashi is confirmed by the , item 180. It was advertised in 1936 and 1937 by First Camera Works or Minagawa Shōten, and it was perhaps still made during the war. Dates: , p.340, lists advertisements and articles dated 1936 and 1937. Baird, pp.99–101, says that it was first called "Speed Pocket" in 1934 then "First Speed Pocket" in 1936 but this seems wrong, and Lewis, p.54, also gives 1934 as the release date. , item 1052, , p.577, and this page of the JCII collection all say 1936. The Speed Pocket appears in the list of set prices compiled in October 1940 and in the of April 1943. Description of the body The Speed Pocket is a vertical folder copied from the Agfa Billy 0, with a body made of alloy. Alloy body: , item 180. The metal struts have an incurved slot guiding the front standard when folding the bed. There is a folding frame finder in the middle of the top plate. The key to wind the film and the folding bed release are at the bottom right, as seen by a photographer holding the camera horizontally. The back is hinged to the left and contains two red windows in the middle, protected by a cover retracted by a common lever, the same system as on the early Semi First. The top and bottom plates and the standing leg have "art-deco" patterns directly copied from the Billy 0. The name SPEED is embossed in the front leather, in capital letters with a higher "S". The body casting, hinged parts, decorative fittings and internal details of the film chamber are exactly identical to the Billy 0. This is demonstrated by Shinohara, pp.26–9 of no.269. The only differences between the Speed Pocket and the Billy 0 are the finder, red windows, leatherette covering and of course the lens and shutter assembly. A plausible theory would be that camera bodies were supplied by Agfa, and that only the final assembly took place in Japan. It is however defeated by the attribution of the Speed Pocket to Kuribayashi in a government inquiry dated April 1943, a date when any import from Germany was all but impossible. , item 180. The Pocket Prince distributed by Fukada Shōkai has an almost identical body, with no provision for 3×4cm exposures and no decorative patterns. The two cameras are perhaps related, and Kuribayashi maybe worked as a subcontractor for Fukada. Evolution, lens and shutter equipment The first known mention of the Speed Pocket is in an advertisement for the First cameras in the October 1936 supplement to Camera Club. October 1936 supplement to Camera Club, second cover. An advertisement in December 1936 presents the camera as a new model, together with the Semi First A and B and First Six. Advertisement reproduced in , p.86. The company name is given as "First Camera Works", and there is a list of authorized dealers. List of authorized dealers: Hattori Tokei-ten, Ōmiya Shashin-yōhin, Mizuno Shashinki-ten, Asanuma Shōkai, Misuzu Shōkai and Ueda Shashinki-ten. The Speed Pocket is offered for with a Toko f/4.5 three element lens by Tōkyō Kōgaku and a selftimer-equipped Licht shutter by Seikōsha. Three elements: , lens item Lc1. Versions equipped with a Magna shutter and an f/6.3 or f/4.5 lens are also announced as available soon. No mention is made of the ability to take 3×4cm pictures, and the viewfinder of the pictured camera does not appear to be adapted for that purpose. The picture is also reproduced in this page of the Center of the History of Japanese Industrial Technology. The camera was also featured in the new products column of the January 1937 issue of . , p.340. The April 1937 advertisement in Camera Club now mentions the dual-format feature, but the illustration does not show the details of the viewfinder. Advertisement reproduced in , p.88. The Licht and Toko combination is offered for the slightly lower price of , and the Magna shutter is no longer mentioned. The Speed Pocket appears for ¥45 in the official list of set prices compiled in October 1940 and published in January 1941. , type 2, section 6B. It appears again in a similar list dated November 1941, where it is attributed to Minagawa. , type 2, section 6B. It is still mentioned in the April 1943 government inquiry on Japanese camera production, with the Toko 75/4.5 lens and Licht shutter; this document attributes the camera to Kuribayashi. , item 180. Actual examples The camera pictured as a Speed Pocket in , Baird, and Lewis , item 1052, Baird, pp.99–101, , p.577 and Lewis, p.51. is probably misidentified: it has a Baron Anastigmat 7.5cm f/4.5 lens in a Kerio shutter, no art-deco patterns and no SPEED embossing, and it is certainly a Pocket Prince. The only genuine Speed Pocket observed so far is pictured in Shinohara. Shinohara, pp.27–8 of no.269. Notes Bibliography * Item 209. (See also the advertisements for item 199.) * Pp.18 and 99–101. * Camera Club. Saishin shashinki zenshū (最新写真機全集, Compendium of the latest cameras.) Supplement to the October 1936 issue. Advertisement on the second cover. * Type 2, section 6B. * Item 180. * Type 2, section 6B. * P.51. * P.577. * Item 1052. * Shinohara. (篠原慈昆). "'Sokkuri' kamera monogatari" ("ソックリ"カメラ物語り, Stories of "clone" cameras). In no.269 (November 1999). Nishinomiya: Camera Collectors News-sha. Pp.25–9. Links In Japanese: * Speed Pocket in the Camera database of the Center of the History of Japanese Industrial Technology Category: Japanese 4x6.5 viewfinder folding Category: Kuribayashi Category: S Pocket, Speed Category: 1936